View full sizePlain Dealer file photoMatthew Hurayt's attempts to live a quiet life in Cleveland after being released from prison 18 months ago are not going well.

There's nothing to like about Matthew Hurayt.

He served 10 years in prison for molesting two young boys and is a registered sexual predator. More recently, he spent four years behind bars for, among other crimes, theft, fraud, kidnapping and beating a man with a hammer.

He returned 18 months ago to his home on Cleveland's near West Side with the goal of living a quiet life. His life has been anything but.

He's become a nexus of trouble in the neighborhood, increasing tensions and inducing police to watch closely.

But here's the twist: It's not Hurayt's criminal past that is dogging him. He can't shake the scrutiny he received in 2006, when police, acting on a tip, dug up his garage and tore through his house in search of the body of Gina DeJesus, the 14-year-old girl who disappeared two years earlier walking home from school.

After 10 hours of searching, with the neighborhood and media closely watching, police found nothing. Hurayt was cleared.

Folks haven't forgotten.

Since he left prison in October of 2010, his garage has been burned to the ground. More recently, his house windows were smashed with rocks and he received text messages asking him about DeJesus.

And on Monday, the same day DeJesus's family and her supporters held a rally in support of Gina, whose whereabouts are still unknown -- police showed up at Hurayt's house. Someone called in a tip, not the first, that he was hiding a dead body. The police took a look around and left.

Hurayt has filed police reports since early February blaming two people for the trouble: an 18-year-old neighborhood boy, whom he's known for years and recently employed as a landscaper, and the teenage boy's girlfriend.

Hurayt has pressed the city to investigate his harassment claim, visiting the city prosecutor twice and turning over text messages he's received. He also has called news organizations, including The Plain Dealer.

I met Hurayt at his house Tuesday. I didn't go to build sympathy for him. I was intrigued by the DeJesus connection and how the city is navigating such a messy situation.

The boy and his girlfriend have also filed numerous complaints against Hurayt, including one on Feb. 14 that accuses Hurayt of threatening the girl on the phone. Three weeks later, police arrested Hurayt, who was indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury Tuesday, accused of stalking the girl.

"If I'm going to be arrested every time someone makes a false report on me, I can't keep going through this," Hurayt says. "I just want to be treated like everybody else."

A few hours after Hurayt was arrested, the boy went to the police and filed a report charging that Hurayt raped him three years ago, when he was 15. The complaint is being investigated by the city's sex crime unit.

Hurayt, according to state prison records, was in prison at the time of the reported rape.

The boy has an outstanding arrest warrant for a drug-related offense. Last summer he was arrested on suspicion of felonious assault after police said he hit two police officers and a cruiser with his car.

He lives a couple of blocks from Hurayt. I went to his house and found his mother and sister. They say Hurayt "can't be making threats with his history."

I asked them about the rape charge, too. They said the boy struggled to reveal the incident to them, and, as a result, may have confused the timeline he provided to police. They said they want Hurayt locked up.

I'm glad the job of sorting this all out doesn't fall to me. I don't envy the Cleveland police or the prosecutors. I've seen enough to believe the city is trying to check out Hurayt's claims.

Of course, the real challenge is remaining blind in the pursuit of justice.

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